ZTE to offer Pre5G technology in 2016

SHENZHEN - Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp announced Friday it will market Pre5G technology in at least ten countries and regions across Asia and Europe in 2016.

Pre5G, an intermediate step between the current 4G technology and 5G, combines 5G technology with existing 4G terminal products to allow faster speeds.

Zhang Jianguo, ZTE's general manager of its wireless product operation department, said the Pre5G connections could be more than four or five times faster than current 4G Internet.

ZTE will complete field tests of the Pre5G network on the Chinese mainland before this summer, according to Dai Shu, a company spokesperson.

China saw 289 million new users join its 4G network in 2015, bringing the total to 386 million.

As China transforms its economy from an export-led growth model to one driven by consumption and innovation, its communications industry is expected to play an important role in the next generation of networks.

ZTE also plans to test a 5G network in the Chinese domestic market in early 2018 and market the technology after that.

Juniper Research estimated that 5G networks will become the mainstream technology in the next decade, bringing global network operators around $100 million in revenue by 2020. The figure is expected to reach $65 billion by 2025.